The Wake

The six lowest walk down the hall to a different apartment. Once four players are eliminated, the remaining eight will convene at the final table. Alex draws an ace and doesn’t have to walk down the hall. He looks at the players sitting at his table, sizing up the competition, remembering past games he’d played with them. He pays the $5 buy-in, and shuffles his white and blue chips. It’s a Saturday night at the University of Minnesota, and Alex Maleki, a junior in the College of Biological Sciences, is doing what he does many nights: playing Texas Hold’em with his friends.

If you’ve watched any sports station in the last year and a half, you know that America’s poker craze is alive and growing. The World Series of Poker main event increases its cash prize with more players entering each year. In 2000, the main event paid $1.5 million to the winner. Greg Raymer, the 2004 winner, pocketed $5 million. Most of these new players are young and have just started playing in the last year when the craze began.

Alex, like many others, watches whenever he can, emulating his favorite players. He and his friends gather several nights a week, each pay $5, and play the poker game Texas Hold’em.

“Each game I play, I imagine I’m in the World Series of Poker playing for millions of dollars,” Alex says. Tonight is no different.

Play begins and Alex is comfortably accumulating chips. He worries though, about the man sitting to his left. He has never played with him before, and he can tell the guy isn’t very good.

“I get worried when I play with people who don’t have much experience,” Alex says. “They don’t know when they have good hands, so it’s hard to tell what they’re betting on. It’s also dangerous because they’ll call on bad hands and catch good cards.”

In Texas Hold’em, players are dealt two cards face down, followed by a round of betting. After the betting, three community cards are dealt face up, referred to as “the flop,” followed by another round of betting. Another card, called “the turn” or “fourth street,” is dealt face up, followed by a third round of betting. Finally, the fifth community card, known as “the river’ or “fifth street,” is dealt, followed by the final round of betting.

Confused? Don’t worry about it, Alex explains. “The game seems intimidating at first. It’s hard to remember all the betting rules and what the best hands are when you first start playing.” But this shouldn’t stop anyone from playing. “Experience is the only sure way to get better.”

Alex and his friends started playing poker on a more regular basis the summer of 2004. Every other night, seven guys would meet up, drink beer and play Texas Hold’Em. These games gave Alex the experience to better understand the game, and further fueled his passion of poker.

“Playing on a regular basis means I’m seeing a lot of hands, so I know what to expect when I’m playing. It only makes me better.”

Alex uses his experience to perfection as he now has the most chips at his table. No one has been knocked out, but several guys are close. Alex looks at his two cards. “Raise,” he says. “Twenty more.” The players behind him sigh. He’s been raising all night and they think he’s bluffing.

“He’s trying to push us around,” says the man to his right, and throws in his cards, letting Alex have the 36 chips in the middle of the table.

“This is a game of patience,” Alex says. “If you have a good hand, bet. If you don’t think your opponent has anything, bet. Your opponents will think you’re reckless and start losing their patience.”

Down the hall, two players are eliminated, and both tables are about to combine. With a large pile of chips in front of him, Alex is in perfect position to win this tournament.

Accompanying the current poker craze is online poker, where many students learn to play the game. At Web sites like pokerroom.com, people deposit real money into an account and play anywhere from 50-cent tables to $1000 buy-in tournaments. You can also play with fake money, a great way to get experience without losing cash. But, as Alex warns, games with fake money aren’t realistic because people will play much differently when they have real money on the game.

Also, Alex explains, there is something special about getting together with your buddies and playing a good game of poker.

“Whenever I play, I have the goal of winning, but I know it’s going to be a good time, win or lose,” Alex says.

The final eight players look at Alex’s chips and frown. They know that Alex is dangerous with a lot of chips. The bets get bigger. Kevin Zarling, a junior in IT makes a big bet. Mike Pinske, a fellow IT junior, pines over the bet. “You know what, I’m gonna have to call. What do you have?”

Kevin picks up his cards and flips them over. “I ain’t got shit.” Alex smiles, he knows the players are starting to get reckless, and he waits for his hand to trap them. A few minutes later, he gets his hand: pocket kings. He looks at his cards and quickly says, “All in.” The inexperienced player to his left is still there with about the same amount of chips. He calls, Alex worries.

Alex flips over his two kings. His opponent flips over king, deuce. Alex smiles, knowing he has a huge advantage. However, beginners luck bites Alex in the ass when four diamonds land on the board. Alex has no diamonds, but his opponent has the two of diamonds, giving him the flush and most of Alex’s chips.

“Those kinds of hands are frustrating, but just like life, shit happens.” Alex doesn’t win any money that night. He is knocked out shortly after his pocket kings failed. But this won’t stop him from playing the next time his buddies get together. In fact, this will only make him want to play more, because when he finally gets a chance to play at the World Series of Poker, he’ll want all the experience he can get.